Pa. charities give $19M for fracking research

Citizens groups and nonprofits around the nation are asking questions about environmental and health impacts of natural- gas hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, and Pennsylvania charities are funding much of the debate, here and in other states.

Foundations from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh have provided more than $19 million for gas-drilling-related grants since 2009, according to an Associated Press review of charity data. The money has paid for scientific studies, films, radio programs, websites and even trout-fishing groups that monitor water quality.

That’s led to expressions of gratitude from those who say state and federal governments aren’t doing enough on the issue, but also protests from some in the gas-drilling industry, who claim there’s bias in the campaigns.

“We are trying to be balanced. We will sacrifice the environment for nothing,” said Robert Vagt, president of the Heinz Endowments, a Pittsburgh charity founded in 1941. The foundation, which is not affiliated with the company of the same name, has given more than $12 million to Cornell University, the Clean Air Council, the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, Duquesne University, the environmental-law organization Earthjustice, the Pittsburgh Filmmakers, Trout Unlimited and others.

One scientist said some research wouldn’t have happened without the Heinz support.

“Foundation support has been critical as we and others who study water have worked to understand how energy and water resources affect each other in southwestern Pennsylvania,” Carnegie Mellon University professor Jeanne VanBriesen wrote in an email.

R. John Dawes, the executive director of the Foundation for Pennsylvania Watersheds, said Heinz funding “has been critical for citizen awareness and citizen input” on the gas- drilling issue.

But the Marcellus Shale Coalition, a leading industry group, criticized what it sees as a “record of bankrolling organizations and institutions opposed to the safe development of job-creating American natural gas.”

“As clean-burning natural gas from the Marcellus Shale is creating tens of thousands of jobs, enhancing air quality, providing lower energy costs for consumers and helping to make our region a manufacturing hub once again, it’s ironic, if not disingenuous, that the Heinz Endowments claims to be focused on ‘solutions to challenges that are national in scope,”’ said Steve Forde, a Shale Coalition spokesman.

The recipients of Heinz grants have a wide range of views. Some take no official position or just want better oversight, while others clearly are opposed to drilling.

For example, Earth- justice received a $50,000 Heinz grant to “ensure environmentally sustainable natural-gas exploration and production in the Marcellus Shale.” But the Earthjustice website calls fracking dangerous and shortsighted and said it’s “poisoning our air and water and on its way to jeopardizing the health of millions more Americans,” and instead urges investments in renewable energy.

Fracking has made it possible to tap into deep reserves of oil and gas but also has raised concerns about pollution. Large volumes of water, along with sand and hazardous chemicals, are injected underground to break rock apart and free the oil and gas. Contaminated wastewater from the process can leak from faulty well casings into aquifers, but it’s often difficult to trace underground sources of pollution. Some studies also have shown air- quality problems around gas wells, while others have indicated no problems.

Regulators contend that overall, water- and air- pollution problems are rare, but environmental groups and some scientists say there hasn’t been enough research on those issues. The industry and many federal and state officials say the practice is safe when done properly, and many rules on air pollution and disclosure of the chemicals used in fracking are being strengthened.

Vagt said the Heinz Endowments simply feels that many questions about gas drilling still need answers.